


With Or Without Words

by afteriwake



Series: Not According To Plan [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 04:17:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4376936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over the years Mycroft and Anthea have come up with an entire other way of communicating subtly without others noticing. After Anthea saves a meeting because Mycroft is distracted through their secret language, she talks to him plainly about what's distracting him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Or Without Words

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vonPeeps](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vonPeeps/gifts).



> So I don't write this ship a whole lot but I've gotten quite a few prompts on Tumblr lately so expect to see it more often! This fic totally came from **vonPeeps** 's wonderful prompt ( _Andrea is as good at deductions as Mycroft is. They both make subtle changes to their behavior in meetings to send messages to each other..._ ). The idea of their own way of communicating is going to come up quite often in the series, with some ways being more subtle than others.
> 
>  **Edit:** There is now a Russian translation of this fic, courtesy of **Nastya_books**! You can find it [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/4000852).

They had worked out their system long ago. They could fill an entire book with the subtle messages they would give each other through stances and hand gestures, phrases and looks. No one understood this secret language they spoke to each other except them, and that was the way Mycroft preferred it. Perhaps it was selfish of him, but when it came to the things he shared with Andrea, he wanted to keep as much of it between the two of them as he could.

They had informed a few people of her pregnancy already. Sherlock already knew, a fact which had irritated him a bit, but he hadn’t told his wife so Andrea got to tell Molly, who was overwhelmingly happy for her. Mycroft informed his parents, who did not seem all that surprised but were pleased nonetheless. Andrea said she told her mother and sister and they were happy but a bit concerned. He supposed they had a reason to be; they knew very little about him, very little about the type of relationship he had with her, and there was very little she could say. If they got married she could tell them more, but not much, but neither of them wanted to take that step yet.

He had been surprised at the fact he was all right with his child being born out of wedlock. He was a man of tradition, after all, and tradition stated that his child would be considered a bastard. But he did not want to push Andrea into a marriage where there was not love. He cared, and caring was enough to start an actual relationship, but he knew caring was not enough for marriage. She wanted love, and she deserved love.

He must have let those thoughts creep up on him more than usual because he saw her tap her fingers on her mobile three times and then move her hand to her arm. That was the sign that his guest was trying to take advantage of the situation because his attention was slipping. Mycroft looked from Andrea back to the woman in front of him. “Clearly I need time to reflect on this matter,” he said, knowing that was the best bet. “We can meet again…?” He looked over at Andrea, discreetly placing his palm at the corner of his desk. That was the sign to prolong the meeting to make his guest sweat.

“Your schedule is quite busy, Mr. Holmes,” Andrea said, looking at her mobile. “I’m afraid you can’t meet again for at least three weeks. And even then it will have to be brief, between the Greek ambassador at 1 and the head of household for Her Majesty at 1:30.”

“I need an answer in a week,” the woman in front of him said, fidgeting nervously.

Mycroft continued to pay attention to Andrea for a moment. She set her mobile on his desk screen side down. That was the signal that if he waited till the last moment she would accept his original offer, so long as he said otherwise she would get nothing at all. “I will try my best to get back to you before then,” he said. “But I am a very busy man. Anthea, show Mrs. Jacobson out.”

Andrea nodded and then stood, gesturing for the woman to walk in front of her. She led the way to the door to Mycroft’s office and let the woman out, then shut the door behind her. She took her time getting back to Mycroft. “You were very distracted,” she said. “It’s unlike you.”

“I have a lot on my mind,” he said, watching her intently. Before they had begun a physical relationship he had taken a great deal of time in studying her, analyzing her. After they had begun to be intimate he began to take pleasure in watching her, enjoying the way she moved. Even with the changes in their relationship with the news of her pregnancy he still enjoyed that.

“Us,” she said simply, moving to his desk. She walked around it as he nodded and sat on the edge near him. “I’m a distraction.”

“In a way. You were always a distraction, but I was better at compartmentalizing it,” he said. After a moment he looked up at her. “Eventually we need to make our relationship public, and I need to find a new assistant." Then he sighed. "I do not relish the idea of having a new assistant. We have a system that works well.”

“It doesn’t need to be a permanent thing,” she said. “With my position, I can’t be fired, just transferred or eliminated. Neither of those options sound appealing. But no one said anything about taking a maternity leave. And it isn’t as though there aren’t other people in relationships in the government.”

“Yes, but they are not an employer and his assistant,” he said. “It smacks of impropriety.”

“I didn’t expect for things to go the way they did, and neither did you,” she said. “We have to make the best of it. So we’ll do that by being open about our relationship, and I’ll continue with my job as your assistant until I need to take maternity leave, and then we’ll figure something out when I have this child.”

“What about rumors?” he asked. “There will be those who say you got your position by seducing me.”

“Mycroft, I already hear those rumors,” she said. “Sherlock was right when he said our relationship is the worst kept secret in the government.” She tilted her head. “This would be much simpler if we just got married, you know.”

His eyes got wide. “What?”

“I know I said I wanted to be loved, and you said you weren’t sure you could give that to me. But there is a lot to our relationship that could cause problems, problems that would be neatly solved if we were man and wife. Logically, us getting married makes the most sense. Even you have to admit that.”

He nodded slowly. She was right; it did make the most sense. Still, he wanted to be sure she truly wanted this. “If we do get married, you do know I am not the type who would easily give up on it, at least until we are completely sure I am incapable of giving you the love you deserve.”

“I know. If you are then we’ll divorce and we’ll work out a transfer for me, and we’ll make sure we’re both equally involved in our child’s life,” she said. “But really, it’s the best solution.”

“All right, then,” he said after studying her closely for a few minutes. “I’ll begin to make the arrangements,” he said, reaching over to take her hand in his. It was a small gesture but it felt appropriate. She grasped it lightly at first, and then she linked her fingers through his and gave him a small smile. He hoped she knew what she was doing, that this was truly what she wanted, because he was determined to hold to his promise to try and give her what she deserved, and he just hoped he didn’t hurt her more in the process.


End file.
